Install n8n on Synology with docker

Jonathan_English · March 22, 2021, 10:45am

Hi!

I’m trying to install n8n on my DS218 with docker, with the existing docker-compose file from GitHub. I can get both docker container installed without errors, but after then the n8n container keeps restarting all the time. Here are my modified docker-compose and the error log:

Docker Compose

version: '3.1'

services:

  postgres:
    image: postgres:11
    restart: always
    environment:
      - POSTGRES_USER
      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD
      - POSTGRES_DB
      - POSTGRES_NON_ROOT_USER
      - POSTGRES_NON_ROOT_PASSWORD
    volumes:
      - ./init-data.sh:/docker-entrypoint-initdb.d/init-data.sh

  n8n:
    image: n8nio/n8n
    restart: always
    environment:
      - DB_TYPE=postgresdb
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_HOST=postgres
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_PORT=5432
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_DATABASE=${POSTGRES_DB}
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_USER=${POSTGRES_NON_ROOT_USER}
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_PASSWORD=${POSTGRES_NON_ROOT_PASSWORD}
      - N8N_BASIC_AUTH_ACTIVE=true
      - N8N_BASIC_AUTH_USER
      - N8N_BASIC_AUTH_PASSWORD
    ports:
      - 5678:5678
    links:
      - postgres
    volumes:
      - /volume1/docker/n8n:/home/node/.n8n
    # Wait 5 seconds to start n8n to make sure that PostgreSQL is ready
    # when n8n tries to connect to it
    command: /bin/sh -c "sleep 5; n8n start"

Error Log

|date|stream|content|
|---|---|---|
|2021-03-22 09:45:35|stderr| ›   "/home/node/.n8n/config". It does not seem to be valid JSON.|
|2021-03-22 09:45:35|stderr| ›   Error: There was an error: Error parsing n8n-config file |
|2021-03-22 09:44:58|stderr| ›   "/home/node/.n8n/config". It does not seem to be valid JSON.|
|2021-03-22 09:44:58|stderr| ›   Error: There was an error: Error parsing n8n-config file |
|2021-03-22 09:44:35|stderr| ›   "/home/node/.n8n/config". It does not seem to be valid JSON.|
|2021-03-22 09:44:35|stderr| ›   Error: There was an error: Error parsing n8n-config file |
|2021-03-22 09:44:18|stderr| ›   "/home/node/.n8n/config". It does not seem to be valid JSON.|
|2021-03-22 09:44:18|stderr| ›   Error: There was an error: Error parsing n8n-config file |
|2021-03-22 09:44:04|stderr| ›   "/home/node/.n8n/config". It does not seem to be valid JSON.|
|2021-03-22 09:44:04|stderr| ›   Error: There was an error: Error parsing n8n-config file |
|2021-03-22 09:43:52|stderr| ›   "/home/node/.n8n/config". It does not seem to be valid JSON.|
|2021-03-22 09:43:52|stderr| ›   Error: There was an error: Error parsing n8n-config file |
|2021-03-22 09:43:40|stderr| ›   "/home/node/.n8n/config". It does not seem to be valid JSON.|
|2021-03-22 09:43:40|stderr| ›   Error: There was an error: Error parsing n8n-config file |
|2021-03-22 09:43:29|stderr| ›   "/home/node/.n8n/config". It does not seem to be valid JSON.|
|2021-03-22 09:43:29|stderr| ›   Error: There was an error: Error parsing n8n-config file |
|2021-03-22 09:43:17|stderr| ›   "/home/node/.n8n/config". It does not seem to be valid JSON.|
|2021-03-22 09:43:17|stderr| ›   Error: There was an error: Error parsing n8n-config file |
|2021-03-22 09:43:03|stdout|Stopping n8n...|
|2021-03-22 09:43:03|stdout||
|2021-03-22 09:43:03|stderr|There was an error initializing DB: connect ECONNREFUSED 172.18.0.3:5432|
|2021-03-22 09:43:03|stdout|UserSettings got generated and saved to: /home/node/.n8n/config|

Does anybody has a solution for this problem? Thank you!

jan · March 22, 2021, 12:28pm

Not sure I understand. The error message says very clear what the issue is:
/home/node/.n8n/config". It does not seem to be valid JSON.

Do you have a valid config-file at that location?

Jonathan_English · March 22, 2021, 1:14pm

Hi Jan. Thanks for the quick response.

I thought this file will be created from n8n by the installation process. Where do I get this file or the file structure for this file? I can’t find this information on GitHub.

jan · March 22, 2021, 1:35pm

Ah yes, that file does get auto-generated on the first startup. But if it throws that error there must be a problem with that file. Some ideas:

it got generated on the first start and it got then messed up in between (like for example got overwritten or because of a crash it did not write fully)
there are some access right issues
the file is a folder

Jonathan_English · March 22, 2021, 7:10pm

I’ve installed the compose file like all the other compose files as “root-user” in the same docker subdirectory (/volume1/docker/n8n). n8n is creating the “config” file in the directory (/volume1/docker/n8n), but the file is empty! I also tried the compose file with PUID and PGID:

version: '3.1'

services:

  postgres:
    image: postgres:11
    restart: always
    environment:
      - PUID=1026
      - PGID=100
      - POSTGRES_USER
      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD
      - POSTGRES_DB
      - POSTGRES_NON_ROOT_USER
      - POSTGRES_NON_ROOT_PASSWORD
    volumes:
      - ./init-data.sh:/docker-entrypoint-initdb.d/init-data.sh

  n8n:
    image: n8nio/n8n
    restart: always
    environment:
      - PUID=1026
      - PGID=100
      - DB_TYPE=postgresdb
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_HOST=postgres
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_PORT=5432
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_DATABASE=${POSTGRES_DB}
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_USER=${POSTGRES_NON_ROOT_USER}
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_PASSWORD=${POSTGRES_NON_ROOT_PASSWORD}
      - N8N_BASIC_AUTH_ACTIVE=true
      - N8N_BASIC_AUTH_USER
      - N8N_BASIC_AUTH_PASSWORD
    ports:
      - 5678:5678
    links:
      - postgres
    volumes:
      - /volume1/docker/n8n:/home/node/.n8n
    # Wait 5 seconds to start n8n to make sure that PostgreSQL is ready
    # when n8n tries to connect to it
    command: /bin/sh -c "sleep 5; n8n start"

Same logs:

|date|stream|content|
|---|---|---|
|2021-03-22 18:57:40|stderr| ›   "/home/node/.n8n/config". It does not seem to be valid JSON.|
|2021-03-22 18:57:40|stderr| ›   Error: There was an error: Error parsing n8n-config file |
|2021-03-22 18:57:28|stderr| ›   "/home/node/.n8n/config". It does not seem to be valid JSON.|
|2021-03-22 18:57:28|stderr| ›   Error: There was an error: Error parsing n8n-config file |
|2021-03-22 18:57:15|stdout|Stopping n8n...|
|2021-03-22 18:57:15|stdout||
|2021-03-22 18:57:15|stderr|There was an error initializing DB: getaddrinfo ENOTFOUND postgres|
|2021-03-22 18:57:15|stderr| ›   "/home/node/.n8n/config". It does not seem to be valid JSON.|
|2021-03-22 18:57:15|stderr| ›   Error: There was an error: Error parsing n8n-config file|

hermanmaleiane · March 29, 2021, 9:14am

Hi @Jonathan_English!!
You can use my example.
The problems are related to volumes.

Jonathan_English · March 29, 2021, 10:58am

Hi @hermanmaleiane!

Thanks for your compose file. Unfortunately, I have the same errors with this one!
Are you sure about the volumes linkages?

hermanmaleiane · March 29, 2021, 11:43am

Hi @Jonathan_English.
I’m 100% sure about that. I had this error and i have manage to fix.
You can try to comment that line and create the volume after that.

Jonathan_English · March 30, 2021, 6:45am

@hermanmaleiane
I’m not sure which volume line do you mean. Here my lastest compose file:

version: '3.1'

services:

  postgres:
    image: postgres:11
    container_name: n8n_postgres
    restart: always
    environment:
      - POSTGRES_USER
      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD
      - POSTGRES_DB
      - POSTGRES_NON_ROOT_USER
      - POSTGRES_NON_ROOT_PASSWORD
    volumes:
      - ./init-data.sh:/docker-entrypoint-initdb.d/init-data.sh

  n8n:
    image: n8nio/n8n
    container_name: n8n
    restart: always
    environment:
      - DB_TYPE=postgresdb
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_HOST=postgres
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_PORT=5432
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_DATABASE=${POSTGRES_DB}
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_USER=${POSTGRES_NON_ROOT_USER}
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_PASSWORD=${POSTGRES_NON_ROOT_PASSWORD}
      - N8N_BASIC_AUTH_ACTIVE=true
      - N8N_BASIC_AUTH_USER
      - N8N_BASIC_AUTH_PASSWORD
    ports:
      - 5678:5678
    links:
      - postgres
    volumes:
      - n8n_data:/home/node/

volumes:
   n8n_data:

hermanmaleiane · March 30, 2021, 1:33pm

As i can see in your logs the first error was at (09:43:03.)
|2021-03-22 09:43:03|stderr|There was an error initializing DB: connect ECONNREFUSED 172.18.0.3:5432|

Run this on your CLI to allow access on the port 5432.

firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=5432/tcp --zone=public
firewall-cmd --reload

and restart the container

Jonathan_English · April 1, 2021, 8:59am

@hermanmaleiane
I’m not sure how to execute this command. My time window is very short caused by the restart of the container all few seconds

hermanmaleiane · April 2, 2021, 6:30am

Hi,
Just copy and paste into your Linux terminal.
It seems like your n8n is not able to connect to the database as I can see on your logs.
That command will enable that port to be listened on your firewall.

Good luck

Jonathan_English · April 12, 2021, 12:29pm

It’s running. The problem ist related to the docker compose file, but I don’t know what the problem is.

I installed postgres and then n8n manually and now it is running.

Thanks for the help!

Erwin · May 7, 2021, 2:12pm

Hi guys,

I’m trying to doing a docker install on my Synology too.
The errors that I see are somewhat similar:

Initializing n8n process
UserSettings got generated and saved to: /home/node/.n8n/config
› Error: There was an error: EACCES: permission denied, open
› ‘/home/node/.n8n/config’

I’ve set all the ENV variables for MySQL and I also set PUID and PGID, but somehow I still get these errors. It seems that it ignores the PUID and PGID, as the folder permissions are changed to ‘root’.

Here’s an attempt running from prompt:

docker run -it --rm --name n8n -p 5678:5678 -v /volume1/docker/n8n:/home/node/.n8n n8nio/n8n n8n start --tunnel
Initializing n8n process
UserSettings got generated and saved to: /home/node/.n8n/config
There was an error initializing DB: “SQLITE_CANTOPEN: unable to open database file”
Stopping n8n…

Any ideas?

smamudhan · May 7, 2021, 3:43pm

Hey @Erwin, I have n8n running on Docker (behind a reverse proxy) using the latest official image from the registry.
Here’s a copy of my configuration; try replicating it and let me know if it fixes your issue!

Edit: Just took a second look, it could be that you don’t have write permissions enabled on the volume you used for the n8n container?

smamudhan · May 7, 2021, 3:48pm

Hey @Jonathan_English, could you try adding this to your n8n service configuration in the compose file?
That should make sure that your database service is started before n8n; which may not have happened in your previous compose file; causing it to fail.

depends_on:
      - postgres

Jonathan_English · May 7, 2021, 3:57pm

Do you used tthe docker-compose file or do you performed a manual installation?

Erwin · May 7, 2021, 6:12pm

Manual installation via the synology docker interface.

Erwin · May 7, 2021, 6:13pm

Thanks! Unfortunately no success. Do you use root or a specific user account for docker?

smamudhan · May 7, 2021, 6:50pm

Just a normal administrator account; not root.

Have you checked to see if the docker user has read/write access on volume1 and the directory for the docker volume you’re mounting?